‘Game of Thrones’ Star Kristian Nairn on His ‘Weird Second Coming Out’

Kristian Nairn, who plays Hodor on HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones,” told his mother he was gay when he was 12 years old. And by the time he was 16, he said, all of his friends and acquaintances knew.

So it was a strange phenomenon for the 38-year-old actor when, earlier this month, numerous media outlets like Rolling Stone, Huffington Post and People announced that he had come out.

“I couldn’t believe the nuclear mushroom,” he told Speakeasy. “It’s always been the way. It’s not as if I suddenly went, ‘Hi guys’ and put a boa on.”

The reaction stemmed from an interview with WinterIsComing.net in which Nairn responded to a question involving the “gay community.” The Belfast-based actor, who is also a DJ, responded that “when you talk about ‘the gay community,’ you are talking about MY community.”